Set up box



S. PLATT SET UP BOX July 8, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 14, 1955 INVENTOR. SAMUEL PLATT ATTORNEYS United States Patent SET UP BOX Samuel Platt, Burlingame, Califl, assignor to United Paper Box Co.

Application February 14, 1955, Serial No. 487,970

2 Claims. (Cl. 229-30) This invention relates to set up cardboard boxes as distinguished from knock-down or folding boxes.

A set up box, in the sense used herein, is a box in which the side walls are erected and in which at least three of the corresponding side walls of the cover and the body of the box will remain erected when the box is opened. The words side wa or side walls, used in connection with the cover, relate to the flange like walls on the cover that are adapted to lie in overlapping relation to the side walls of the body and the box when the cover is on the body of the box.

In set up boxes there is no necessity for the persons using them to fold and to lock tabs at the corners of the boxes in order to hold the side walls in position. Also, set up boxes may be covered with paper glued to the walls to give them a neater appearance than folding boxes, and such paper is adapted to bear designs and the name or symbol of the establishment using the boxes imprinted in a manner and with combinations of colors that are more attractive than where attempts are made to imprint them directly on the cardboard itself.

One of the added and main advantages of set up boxes over folding boxes is that they are more rigid, thus giving additional protection to the contents.

Folding boxes have the advantage that they are usually cheaper to make than set up boxes, particularly in certain types of folding boxes. Cake and pastry boxes are examples, wherein the cover of each box is connected with the body of each box and the cover and body of each box is made at the same time with one side wall of each box common to the cover and to the body of the box. This effects a saving in both material and time of manufacture, and saves the user the time of assembling a box.

A feature in boxes that has long been desired, but that has not been found in either set up boxes or in folding boxes, is one in which the cover will automatically stay in any desired open or partially open position on the box, thus enabling the user to employ either the front wall or flange of the cover or the inside thereof for advertising the contents or some feature of the latter while exposing the contents for inspection, all without resorting to the use of stay cords, cloth tape or the like, or easel like props or interlocking elements. Such devices usually are effective, in any event, for merely holding the cover in one position only. Also, any of these added devices are expensive to make in a box and they more or less obstruct a clear view of the contents of the box.. N

Heretofore attempts to employ in set up boxes the structure in which the body and cover of each box are hingedly connected by a side wall common to both, as in certain cake boxes, has not been successful since the cover tends to spring open, and when swung upwardly to a position perpendicular to the bottom it will fall rearwardly instead of remaining upright. As already mentioned, the use of props, etc. to lock or to hold the cover up are not satisfactory.

One of the main objects of the present invention is the provision of a set up box that has many of the desirable features of a folding box as well as those of the set up box. The cover in the present box is integrally connected with the body of the box by a side wall common to the cover and body. The cover will not swing away from the box when elevated to a position perpendicular to the body of the box, and it will stay in any nomical set up box and cover than has heretofore been produced will be produced.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the description and in the drawings.

In the drawings, Figs. 1 to 10 inclusive show progressive steps in the manufacture of the box.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a cardboard blank from which the box is formed.

Fig. 2 shows the marginal portions of the blank bent to one side of the latter and to positions perpendicular to the plane of the blank with corner pieces securing the said marginal portions in their said perpendicular positions.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the structure of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a cover sheet of paper for covering the outer sides of the box of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the box of Fig. 2 positioned on the blank of Fig. 4, the latter being glue moistened on the side applied to the box of Fig. 2 preparatory to folding the marginal portions of the sheet of Fig. 4 over the sides of the box of Fig. 2 and over the edges of said sides.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the box having its bottom, top and sides covered by the sheet of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the box of Fig. 6.

Figs. 8, 9 show the box of Fig. 6 being progressively folded to closed position while the glue moistened cover paper thereon is still damp.

Fig. 10 shows the box fully closed and in which position it will remain until the glue on the cover sheet is dry.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 11-11 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional View showing the corner piece of Fig. 7 that connects the side walls of the top cover and body of the box at one side of the latter.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary, sectional view of the portion shown in Fig. 12 when the cover is swung to closed position.

In detail, the box and the method of making it comprise providing an elongated, generally rectangular blank of cardboard, generally designated 1 (Fig. 1). This blank is scored at 2, 3 along a central pair of parallel lines extending transversely of the length of the blank.

It is to be understood that the use of the words score, scoring, scored, and the like in the description and claims is intended to cover creases and creasing or any other structure in which lines of weakness to facilitate bending of the cardboard along such lines is employed.

Blank 1 is also scored along its longitudinally extending edges at 4, 5, and along its end edges at 6, 7, the latter being parallel with scores 2, 3 and at right angles to scores 4, 5.

The cover of the box is generally designated 10, and comprises the portion adjoining score 2 and at the left of said score as seen in Fig. 1.

The body of the box is generally designated 11, and is the portion adjoining score 3 and at the right of said score as seen in Fig. 1.

Score 6 defines the juncture between the marginal portion of cover 10 at one end of the blank and the top wall of the box when the latter is set up, and which portion is designated 12, and score 7 defines the juncture between the marginal portion of the blank at the other end of the blank and the bottom wall of the box, which latter portion is designated 14. The top of the wall box is indicated at 13 and the bottom wall at 15.

Score 4 defines the junctures between the marginal portions 16, 17 that are along one of the longitudinally extending edges of the blank and the top and bottom walls 13, 15. Score defines the junctures between the marginal portions 18, 19 of the blank that are along the other longitudinally extending edge of the blank and the top and bottom walls 13, 15.

The central portion 20 of blank 1 that lies between the scores 2, 3 is what will be the side wall common to the cover and body of the box when the latter is formed, and scores 4, 5 extend across the ends of said central portion.

The marginal portions 12, 16, 18 will become the side walls of the cover, and the marginal portions 14, 17, 19 will become the side walls of the body.

A corner piece 22 is between and integral with marginal portions 16, 17 and is also integral with the side Wall 20, while a similar corner piece 23 is integral with marginal portions 18, 19 and with side wall 20. Scores 2, 3, and 4 define three of the edges of corner piece 22 that adjoins the side walls 20, 16, 17. Scores 2, 3 and 5 define the edges of corner piece 23 that adjoins the side walls 20, 18, 19. The remaining edge of each corner piece is the free edge thereof.

Corner pieces 22, 23 are scored along convergent lines 24 that respectively extend from the intersections of scores 2, 3 with score 4 and from the intersections of scores 2, 3 with score 5. Said scores 24 in each corner piece extend along lines that intersect about centrally of each corner piece, and the free outer edges of the corner pieces are notched out at 25 along lines that are substantially continuations of scores 24.

The foregoing describes the blank 1 before any bending or folding has taken place. This structure in itself is not new insofar as the corner pieces and side walls are con cerned, except that in cake boxes and the like it is customary to provide locking flaps at the corners of the blank in extension of the end or side walls for insertion into slits in the adjacent side or end walls as the case may be. In the present instance the corners of the blank are removed outwardly of the points Where scores 4, 5, 6 and 7 meet.

The next step in forming the box is to bend or fold up the end and side walls 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, including the corner pieces 22, 23, to positions perpendicular to the plane of the blank and in which plane the top, bottom and side walls 13, 15, 20 are positioned. This is done by the conventional staying machine that also glues the corner stays 27 to the end and side walls at the corners of the blank (Figs. 2, 3). These corner stays normally are merely rectangular pieces of paper or other suitable material.

The box as shown in Figs. 2, 3 is now an open set up box in that it cannot be unfolded to the fiat position shown in Fig. l, but it will remain in a set-up form. The exposed glued surface indicated in Fig. 12 on the web portion 40 as being exposed will not stick to the portion 40 when the box is folded since this portion normally does not contact portion 40, and in any event it will not stick in the absence of positive pressure being applied such as is required to make the paper cover 28 stick to the cardboard. However, the top and bottom, or cover and body, of the box have at this point been formed in the same time that would normally be required to make the body only or the cover only of a conventional set up box in which the body and cover are separate.

The next step is to cover the box of Figs. 2, 3, and this is done by a conventional wrapping machine used to cover conventionally made set up boxes and covers.

The wrapper or paper cover is in the form of a blank 28 of paper. This blank is larger than the blank of Fig. 1, but is generally of the same shape except that the marginal portions 29, 30 extending longitudinally of the blank are not notched out at the points where the notches 25 of corner pieces 22, 23 occur in the blank 1.

The end marginal portions 31, 32 are the same length as the marginal portions 12, 14 of blank 1 but the side marginal portions 29, 30 are slightly longer than the overall length of the marginal portions along the longitudinally extending edges of blank 1. Notches 33 at the ends of marginal portions 29, 30 are positioned at the ends of the marginal portions 31, 32 and the bottoms of these notches define the points where the corners of the box of Fig. 2 are to be positioned so that extensions 34 of the marginal portions 29, 30 will extend beyond said corners.

The upper side of the blank 28 of Fig. 4 is covered with glue, thereby glue moistening this blank, and substantially immediately thereafter the box of Fig. 2 is positioned on said blank with the corners of the box at the bases of notches 33 and with the bottom 13 and top 15 of the box against blank 28. The side marginal portions 29, 30 are then swung up and pressed against the outer sides of the side walls 16, 17, 18, 19 and corner pieces 22, 23 of the box of Fig. 2, and the extensions 34 are folded around the corners of the box to lie over the end walls 12, 14 after which the end marginal portions 31, 32 of blank 23 are folded up and pressed over said extensions and over the walls 12, 14 of the box. The marginal portions 29, 30, 31, 32 will project slightly above the free edges of the side and end walls of the box, and the next step is to fold the portions so projecting over the edges of said side and end walls and over the corner pieces 22, 23, as seen at 35 (Fig. 7).

The paper wrapper or cover will thus extend over and close the notches 25 in the corner pieces as seen in Fig. 12, and this paper will be doubled at the outer ends of the notches.

Before the glue is dried completely the cover 10 is swung through the positions 36 (Fig. 8) and 37 (Fig. 9) to fully closed position 38 (Fig. 10) with the corner pieces folded toward each other and into the box (Figs. 11, 13). The side walls 16, 18 on the cover will automaticallyslide to lapping relation with side walls 17, 19 andlover the outer sides of the latter walls even though scores 4, 5 are continuous and parallel, since the infolding of the corner pieces will automatically draw the side walls 16, 18 slightly inwardly at their ends that adjoin the corner pieces although the operator usually slightly forces the said ends of the side walls 16, 18 inwardly until the position 36 is reached to insure the side walls 16, 18 being outside walls 17, 19.

The score 7 is slightly farther from the nearest score 3 than score 6 is from score 2, hence the end wall 12 will pass over the end wall 14, and when the box is fully closed as in position 38 (Fig. 10) the cover will not accidentally spring open but will stay closed until actually pulled or drawn open.

The glue on the web portions 40 of the paper wrapper 28 (Fig. 12) that extend across the notches 25 will dry after the box is closed. This web lies fiat between the sections 41, 42 (Fig. 12) of each corner piece, and these sections are in opposed relation with the web tending to hold each corner piece in folded position after each web has dried. These webs are glue stiffened, making them resilient and this resiliency contributes to pulling the edge 43 of the portion 42 of each corner piece frictionally against the juncture between each section 41 and the adjoining side wall 17, 19 as the cover is swung to and from open position.

This resiliency and tensile characteristic of webs 40 and their resistance to bending and the above mentioned friction provide the force necessary to automatically hold the cover in any position between 36 and 38 and the cover will not swing back to the position shown in Fig. 7. When forced past position 36 in a direction away from the body of the box, the cover will spring back to the position 36 or approximately to said position. Thus the webs become spring members or elements, and their combination with the notches 25 produces the desired results. If the glue moistened sheet 28 were dried when the box was in open position as seen in Fig. 7, the cover would tend to return to the open position, which the box would do in any event if the cover sheet were not on the box.

From the foregoing description it is seen that usual box making machines would be employed to make boxes as herein disclosed, and where two operations would be required to make the conventional set up box and cover therefor, only one is required by this method. Also, the box of this invention has the cover connected with the body, and therefore the operator is not required to handle a cover separately. The fact that the box cover will be yieldably and frictionally held in the desired positions relative to the box is very desirable, since by the present method the means for accomplishing this result do not require added expense, time or trouble.

I claim:

1. The method of making a box having a body, cover therefor, and a side wall integrally and hingedly connecting said body and cover comprising the steps of: scoring a planar, elongated, generally rectangular cardboard blank along a first pair of spaced parallel lines substantially equally spaced from and parallel with the end edges of said blank for defining the respective junctures between such body and cover with said side wall, scoring said blank along a second pair of spaced, parallel lines perpendicular to said first pair of parallel lines and equally spaced from the side edges of said blank to define the junctures between marginal portions along the corresponding side edges of said body and cover and the junctures between said side wall and its opposite end portions, and notching the blank along said side edges at said end portions to provide outwardly directed notches in said end portions, and scoring each of said end portions along lines extending divergently from the closed ends of said notches to the ends of said first pair of score lines respectively, folding said marginal portions and said end portions to the same side of said blank along said second pair of scores and securing them in positions perpendicular to said body, cover and said side wall, then gluing a paper sheet, which is glue-moistened over the entire surface of one side, to substantially the entire outer surface of said box with portions thereof spanning the notches in the latter and immediately thereafter and before said glue moistened paper is dry, folding said cover to a position over said body about said first pair of score lines and folding said end portions on themselves with the paper that spans said notches disposed substantially flat between parts of each of said end portions and then permitting said glue moistened paper to dry whereby said paper on said end portions will yieldably resist unfolding of said end portions and swinging of said cover to open position to thereby enable said paper to yieldably hold said cover in a position extending upwardly relative to said body when the latter is horizontal.

2. A set up box formed from a single, elongated, generally rectangular blank and having a bottom Wall, top wall and one side wall in coplanar relationship at a point in the manufacture thereof, a central pair of spaced parallel scores defining opposite edges of said one side wall and one of the edges of said bottom Wall and of said top wall respectively, marginal portions on said blank along the remaining edges of said bottom wall and said top wall, corner pieces integral with the ends of said one side wall and between and integral with the adjacent ends of each pair of marginal portions that are adjacent to said one side wall, each of said corner pieces being formed with an outwardly opening recess directed away from said one side wall, said marginal portions and said corner pieces being secured in positions perpendicular to the plane of said blank to one side thereof, a single cover paper glued to and covering the outer surfaces of said top wall, bottom wall, side walls and corner pieces including the outer surface of said one side wall and having portions extending across the recess in each of said corner pieces when said bottom wall, top wall, and one side wall are in said coplanar relationship and after said marginal portions and corner pieces are perpendicular thereto, folding scores in each of said corner pieces extending at right angles to each other from the ends of said central pair of spaced parallel scores to facilitate folding them on themselves with parts thereof in lapping relation and closing said recesses upon swinging said top wall about said central pair of parallel scores to a position over said bottom Wall, said top wall being folded to a position over said bottom wall with the corresponding marginal portions on said top wall and on said bottom wall in lapping relation and with said corner pieces folded on themselves, the portion of said cover paper extending across each of said recesses being disposed within each corner piece between the lapped parts thereof and glue stressed by glue covering one side thereof to yieldably resist out-folding of said corner pieces for thereby yieldably resisting swinging of said cover toward a position in which the latter is coplanar with said bottom and for yieldably holding said top wall upright relative to said bottom wall when said top wall is swung to said upright position from its position over said bottom wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 690,377 Smith Dec. 31, 1901 1,152,359 Smith Aug. 31, 1915 2,168,387 Bellin Aug, 8, 1939 2,197,152 Mason Apr. 16, 1940 2,610,782 McReary Sept. 16, 1952 2,717,731 Nerenberg Sept. 13, 1955 

